


the song of their love

by irrelevantramblings



Category: Hadestown - Mitchell, The Good Place (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crossover, F/M, Fluff, Post canon, and persephone is queen, epic iii, eurydice is head of hr, hades is hades, i wrote this instead of working, idk how to end this, orpheus is in charge of the bar, sorry about this really, this really ran away from me huh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-14
Updated: 2019-10-14
Packaged: 2020-11-08 04:55:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20829755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/irrelevantramblings/pseuds/irrelevantramblings
Summary: "There's one way we can override the judge.""How?"The soul squad journeys way down under to Hadestown.Or: Orpheus sings his song, and Chidi remembers.





	the song of their love

**Author's Note:**

> i had this thought instead of sleeping one night and seeing as no one has written it ive decided to. oh dear.

"Cerberus! Get back here!" Eurydice yelled. While she was officially the head of HR at Hadestown, she might as well be everything else too. Now her stupid boss was making her give his damn three-headed devil of a dog a bath while the idiot was cleaning the house. Persephone was returning, which meant Hades was very anxious to get everything set up exactly how his wife liked it. The good thing that could come out of this was that Orpheus could pass the bar back to Persephone, which meant more time to spend with him.

(Eurydice liked her boss, really, just thought sometimes he was still a bit of an idiot.)

Honestly, Eurydice didn't understand why Hades couldn't just leave it to 'Seph to wash the dog. Cerberus melted like a puddle at the goddess's feet. And Eurydice was pretty sure that Persephone could care less about how clean her dog was. 

Speaking of the dog, it was now making for the gates of Hadestown. Since the walls had been torn down years, no centuries-well Eurydice wasn’t really sure-ago, Hades had built a gate in its place. Persephone had added her own touch, too, with little flowers that somehow twisted through the bars of the gates and blossomed, even with the lack of sunlight. 

At that moment a loud creak was heard as the gates started swinging open. This meant two things: one, the train had come and two, the stupid dog was about to rush into the train tracks and meet face to face with the train. And if anything happened to that dog, well- while Eurydice was sure she couldn’t die again (already been there and done that), she was pretty sure the two gods would make her suffer a fate worse than death. Not ideal when she preferred spending eternity with her lover.

“Hermes!” She yelled. “Stop the train!”

The train ground to a halt with a screech, sparks flying off the tracks. If Eurydice still had a beating heart, she was sure she would’ve had a heart attack. Cerberus, on the other hand, seemed to be none the wiser that he nearly had a horrific accident. He was already pawing at Persephone’s carriage door.

Eurydice gave a long suffering sigh. All this, and the damn dog still hadn’t been washed.

-*-

Eleanor groaned, her head between her hands. Janet was stretched thin. Michael looked like he was about to have a breakdown anytime Chidi even showed up in his vicinity. Tahani was really trying her best, but her attempts at comfort were what one would call “overbearing”. And Jason… Jason just kept asking Chidi if he still remembered pizza.

In short, this entire experiment was turning into one giant, forking shirthole.

“C’mon Michael, there has to be another way,” Eleanor said, staring him in the eye. Nothing was turning out right, not even with the shrimp that was supposed to fly through the air that day. Mostly because everyone was asking Janet for things and she was beginning to feel quite overworked. 

Michael tried to stand his ground, he really did, before he eventually relented. “Well, there is one way we could override the judge,” he said, carefully.

“How?”

“Oh, so the judge does have a manager, how wonderful!” Tahani proclaimed, clapping her hands together. 

“Ooh are we going somewhere else? If we’re riding on a transformer I call dibs on the right nipple!” Jason, as usual, seemed to have some forked up idea on what was going on.

“Michael… is that really good idea?” Janet asked.

“It’s our only chance.”

“Excuse me, is there anything you two would like to share with the class?” Eleanor cut in. She was so forking tired of Michael and his secrets.

“Well, Tahani is right… but only partly. Judge Gen doesn’t have a manager, but she does have a creator.”

Eleanor could feel her eyes widening. Someone even higher than Judge Gen, well… that person had to be some sort of god. She swallowed, mouth feeling dry. “How do we get there?”

“By train.” 

What was it about the afterlife and trains? It was the forking afterlife, and they couldn’t even be bothered to invent… flying cars or something? Or better yet, teleportation?

“Eleanor?”

She snapped back to attention. “Yeah?”

“We’re gonna have to take Chidi with us.”

Wow, this afterlife really, really forking hated her, huh. 

-*-

Eleanor shifted uncomfortably in her train seat. Janet wasn’t driving the train this time, apparently, which, to be honest, made Eleanor a little anxious. Geez, she clearly spent too much time with Chidi.

Chidi...

Eleanor got up from her seat and walked towards the back of the train car. _ Don’t think about him, _she tells herself, as if it would work. The man in question had sat next to the only available seat on the train carriage and of course, the damn seat was next to her. For once, Eleanor almost hated his relentless questioning- she didn’t know how she could answer him without causing his mind to blow. 

It didn’t matter anyway, he still wouldn’t remember her. Them.

Instead Eleanor started walking toward the back of the train. As far as she knew, they were the only ones on this train-them, and the weird man with the silver suit. That suit had nearly blinded her when she got on the train, and then there were his shoes, which were gold and had wings on them. Plus his hair, silver as well. And his face- he had dark skin, and he looked both old and young at the same time. He was the one driving their train. 

“Would anyone care to tell me where we’re going?” Eleanor had demanded before they set off.

“Where you’re going? Why, you’re going way down under, sister,” he drawled in that jazzy voice of his. There was that, too. He kept calling everyone sister and brother even though no one was related to him.

Eleanor kept walking. Where was “way down under”? Did the man mean it literally? Did the afterlife even have an up and a down? Would they end up in the Bad Place, where Shawn was no doubt anticipating their arrival? The only world Eleanor knew was the fake Good Place. She likely lived there longer than she had lived anywhere in her entire life.

She stopped in front of a door that had a reserved sign on it. Eleanor thought about it. Chidi would’ve walked away and gone somewhere else. But Eleanor wasn’t Chidi. All the trains they’d been on thus far had no reserved signs on them, and Eleanor was immediately suspicious. Could Shawn be hiding in there? She put her hand on the door, prepared to slide it aside and catch whoever was hiding in there.

“Uh-uh, sister, that’s the Queen’s quarters. Can’t go in there,” said the Hermes guy. When the fork did he get here? And who was this Queen he was talking about? Since when did the afterlife become a monarchy?

Suddenly, a high-pitched voice yelled out, “Hermes! Stop the train!”

Out of the corner of her eye, Eleanor thought she saw a three-headed dog streak past. What. The. Fork?

-*-

“Hiya songbird, how ya doin’?” Persephone stepped off the train still smelling like summertime in her signature green dress. Her curls cascaded wildly down her back, gathered loosely with some flowers. She’d passed her straw bag to Hermes, bottles clinking inside of it- Persephone hadn’t been drinking for ages, but she still had a bar to stock. The goddess swept Eurydice up into a warm hug, kissing her on the side of her head. Eurydice put her hand up and brought down a brillant, red carnation.

“Better, now that you’re here. You know Cerb only listens to you.”

“Lover.” A deep voice rumbled behind Eurydice. Persephone turned toward the sound of her husband’s voice, a smile playing at her lips. 

“Missed ya,” she quipped. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. Eurydice looked away, feeling a bit like she was watching her parents kiss. 

“Ahem, sorry to interrupt the happy reunion, sister, but we have guests,” Hermes said. Eurydice whirled around. Usually, new contracts appeared on her desk and newcomers were directed to her by Hermes. Hades had created other spaces for those that didn’t want to work, and outsourced their management to others. Usually, those people didn’t land on Eurydice’s desk. And if they did, well, there were no trains due to arrive today except for Persephone’s.

The two gods looked just as confused as Eurydice. Just then, a train door opened and out stepped the strangest looking bunch. A dark-skinned woman wearing a long, flowing dress, like she was dressed up to meet the Queen of England, a man dressed casually in a shirt and shorts and… was he sucking on a lollipop and how on earth did he get a balloon? There was also another man, dressed in a button-up and pants, with thick glasses perched on his face. He looked utterly confused. By his side was a short, blonde haired woman wearing a formal blouse and blazer.

There were another two which Eurydice immediately knew not to be shades. One of them was extremely tall, also with glasses and wearing a button-up, but he wore a prominent bowtie at his collar. The other was what Hades had said was a Janet- a sort of AI system built for the people who did not wish to work during their afterlives. 

“Uh, hello. I’m Eurydice, can I help you?”

The tall man with the glasses stepped forward. “I’m Michael,” he said, then pointed to the woman wearing the dress, “that’s Tahani,” he continued. Next he pointed at the man sucking on a lollipop, “that’s Jason,” he said, then gestured to the man wearing glasses, “that’s Chidi.” Finally, he pointed at the blonde woman, “and that’s Eleanor. You guys already know Janet.”

“Yeah, we do, can I help you with something?” Eurydice asked, brows furrowed in confusion. 

“We’re looking for your leader,” the blonde-Eleanor supplied.

“Judge Gen’s manager, if you will,” Tahani added.

Eurydice just felt more confused. She nodded behind her to where the two gods were standing. “You mean Hades?”

-*-

“Ah. Michael. You need anything here, son?” Hades had a forking low voice, and it left goosebumps on Eleanor’s skin.

“Mr Hades, sir. Yes, there are some things we need…” 

Eleanor zoned out as Michael explained their predicament to this Hades person. Wasn’t Hades some sort of greek god? Like, the god of death or something? Was the lady in green his wife? All of them had a strange sort of timelessness to their faces except for the girl-Eurydice. What the fork kind of name was that? 

“... I was wondering if we could find some sort of way to jog Chidi’s memory, it didn’t… go very well with Eleanor last time,” Michael finished. 

Eleanor snapped to attention when she heard both hers and Chidi’s names mentioned. Didn’t Michael say it would be impossible to gain the memories back unless they used Janet’s weird memory machine thing? 

Hades, his wife (Eleanor still hadn’t gotten the woman’s name) and Hermes were discussing among themselves. Eleanor had gathered from their interaction that Eurydice, despite seeming normal, was somehow close to these gods by the way she referred to all of them by name, and the nickname they had used for her. Songbird. Maybe she was good at singing.

“Psst, hey,” Eleanor whispered to Chidi, “what’s the name of Hades’s wife?”

“Persephone. Can you believe all this is real?”

Eleanor wants to tell him of course she believes all this is real, it’s the forking afterlife you dumb doofus, anything is possible. She wants to tell him they’ve known each other for so much longer than in the time they’ve met, that she’s not an architect and all she’s been doing is lying to him, they’ve all been lying to him and she’s sorry, gods she is so sorry, but why would he believe her? He’s only just met her.

And when he gets his memories back… then maybe, maybe he’ll hate her, hate her for all the lying even though he went willingly into this. Or maybe he won’t remember, and he’ll forget her name again. Forget her, and go have a nice life with Simone, good and smart Simone, kind Simone, not Eleanor, a trash bag dumpster fire of a girl from Arizona. 

Eleanor’s always needed him to be a better person. But Chidi doesn’t need Eleanor. 

“I know a way to get his memories back,” Eurydice says, suddenly. She shares a long look with the gods before Persephone inhales sharply and grasps her hands.

“That’s right songbird, let’s go find your poet.”

And before Eleanor can protest, Eurydice is grabbing her hand and they’re moving yet again.

-*-

Eurydice doesn’t know why she grabs Eleanor’s hand, only that she recognises the look in Eleanor’s face, the one of longing and hurt and grief all rolled up into one. Then she hears Michael’s explanation and thinks of her husband, of all the endless years of waiting.

Eurydice knows. Eurydice understands.

And Eurydice remembers a story of a young man who walked into death’s jaws and sang a song so sweet and pure, he stirred something within two gods as old as time itself. Eurydice remembers how the two gods looked at each other like they were seeing each other for the first time. She remembers the red carnation that blossomed in the hands of a god so long associated with death, and the happy tears of his wife as she placed her hands in his.

Eurydice thinks of a story where two gods looked at each other with something like remembering in their eyes and knows they’ve got a solution.

She bursts through the doors of Persephone’s bar where her husband sits. There are few patrons this time of day, but they are more than enthusiastic to see their lady has returned. Persephone smiles, but hushes them all- they have more important things to attend to.

“Poet!” Persephone calls. 

“Lady Persephone!” Orpheus answers, putting his lyre down and coming over to embrace her. He turns and sees the look on Eurydice’s face.

“‘Rydice? Is everything okay?”

“I need you to play the song,” she tells him. 

“Wait, I don’t understand-”

“It’s for them,” Eurydice says, pointing toward Chidi and Eleanor. “They need to remember.”

Orpheus nods. Always good and always kind, her Orpheus. He takes his place on the stage again. The opening notes float into the nearly empty bar. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Persephone and Hades take each other’s hands. 

_ King of shadows, king of shades…. _

-*-

Eleanor didn’t understand. How was this song, clearly about Hades and his wife, even going to help Chidi remember? The only thing Chidi would remember is the story of Hades and Persephone, which Eleanor was pretty sure he knew, the big nerd.

Her big nerd.

She had no idea why they called Eurydice songbird but this man poet. This guy was obviously the songbird. She didn’t understand how a song was gonna solve their problems. If anything, Eleanor thought all of this was a big waste of time and that they should just use Janet’s memory machine, even though it was a little traumatic.

Eleanor tapped Eurydice on the shoulder. “Listen, buddy, I don’t know what this is all about, but I don’t think it’s working. So let’s wrap this up and-”

“I used to think like you,” Eurydice said, quietly. “But this song… it just does something. It brought the world back in tune. Spring came again.”

“What? What the fork are you on about?”

“We fell in love because of this song,” Eurydice continued, seemingly unaware of Eleanor’s disbelief. “It made them remember,” she said, nodding to the two gods, holding each other’s hands, lost in a world of their own.

“Okay, I don’t know what you’re on but-”

_ … singing la lalalalalalala…. _

Eleanor stilled. The music washed over her like a wave, pulling her under. It was strangely haunting, but it pulled Eleanor deeper and deeper still. And Eleanor found she wanted to go into this strange world created by this music.

_ La lalalalalala…. _

She saw a garden. She could feel the flowers, soft beneath her heels, blossoming in every colour of the rainbow. In the dappling sunlight, she could see a man, wearing a button-down shirt and khaki pants. She instantly knew who it was. Chidi. Without thinking, Eleanor sprang forward, running to meet him. Reaching for him. Wait for me, she thought. I’m coming.

_ La lalalalalala…. _

Suddenly, she heard a sharp intake of breath. The afterlife snapped back into focus, back into the bar they were in. The poet was still singing, looking at Eurydice. She was staring back with pure adoration in her eyes. The two gods were holding each other, looking as in love as a young couple on the day they first met. Jason and Janet were in each other’s arms. Tahani was spellbound by the music, leaning forward, all poise forgotten. Michael and Hermes were quiet, just watching.

And Chidi… Chidi was looking at her. 

Eleanor felt something in her hands- she looked down to see a red carnation, more vibrant than any she had ever seen before. How? When had it gotten here? Did it just appear in her hands?

“Eleanor?” Chidi was looking at her like he was seeing her for the first time. Like… like remembering.

“Eleanor,” he breathed, cupping her face in his hands. His thumbs wiped away the tears from her eyes-since when had she started crying?

“It’s you.”

“It’s me,” she whispered back. He kissed her then, and it felt like all the puzzle pieces were finally aligned. All the hurt and all the pain from the past few days and weeks or months even, fell away. It felt like coming home, finally. Coming home to Chidi, with all his ridiculous anxieties and his button downs and his philosophy books.

Gods, she had missed this _ so much. _

“Eleanor… what do we do now?”

“I don’t know,” Eleanor said, slowly. “But we’ll figure it out.”

Now that they were together again, there was nothing they couldn’t do.

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea how to end this so i just left it open ended. also this really ran away with me
> 
> poor eleanor though. i want to give her a hug


End file.
